James,
I’d like to respond to our friend who asked if refinancing from 5.2% down to 3.88% is a good idea. To answer that, consider what we just did. We refinanced our house from 4.5% down to 3.75% and borrowed a further $40,000, from equity. The result is that we still pay $100 less each month in mortgage payments. While we have more debt, now we also have more equity in the house in the form of $33,000 worth of solar panels and battery backup that we had installed. We also squared away most of our remaining important preparations and paid off some credit cards to boot. It is a very, very good idea to refinance even without taking out any equity because you will end up paying tens of thousands of dollars less through the life of a 30-year loan, assuming you have that much left to go. – Geoff S.
Letter Re: Advice on Refinancing
